SLO rally to sup­port Mueller in­ves­ti­ga­tion draws hun­dreds

San Luis Obispo County res­i­dents came to­gether on Thurs­day to ex­press their out­rage at Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump’s fir­ing of U.S. At­tor­ney Gen­eral Jeff Ses­sions and its po­ten­tial im­pact on the con­tin­u­ing Rus­sia probe.

Hun­dreds of pro­test­ers gath­ered out­side the San Luis Obispo County Court­house un­der a set­ting sun to rally and then march in sup­port of Spe­cial Coun­sel Robert Mueller’s in­ves­ti­ga­tion into Rus­sian med­dling in the 2016 elec­tion.

Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump fired Ses­sions on Wed­nes­day and tem­po­rar­ily re­placed him with Matt Whi­taker, a critic of Mueller’s in- ves­ti­ga­tion.

It’s un­clear how Whi­taker, Ses­sions’ for­mer chief of staff, will im­pact the in­ves­ti­ga­tion in his new role as act­ing at­tor­ney gen­eral.

The San Luis Obispo rally was one of hun­dreds held across the coun­try at 5 p.m. as part of the “No­body is Above the Law — Mueller Pro­tec­tion Rapid Re­sponse” move­ment.

Women’s March San Luis Obispo and To­gether We Will San Luis Obispo County quickly or­ga­nized the march af­ter Ses­sions’ fir­ing, said Jen Ford, a Women’s March co-or­ga­nizer.

“We just kind of jumped on that and de­cided we’ve got to do this,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Salud Car­ba­jal and San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Har­mon — both fresh off their re­cent elec­tion vic­to­ries — spoke on the court­house steps along with lo­cal ac­tivists.

A group of res­i­dents from all around the coun-

ty cheered and raised signs that read “Trump vi­o­lates the Con­sti­tu­tion and ob­structs jus­tice” and “Rule of law for ev­ery- one.”

As the street­lights came on, pro­test­ers gath­ered to­gether and pre­pared to do a lap around down- town — in­clud­ing Higuera Street, which was closed and crowded with booths for the Down­town SLO Farm­ers Mar­ket.

Sandy Dex­ter of Los Osos car­ried a “Make Amer­ica a Democ­racy Again” sign. She said Ses­sions’ fir­ing and the po­ten­tial threat to the Rus­sia in­ves­ti­ga­tion was the trig­ger that brought her down the coast to protest.

“I want Amer­ica to be a democ­racy I be­lieve in again,” she said.

Mar­jorie Zlo­towitz of Cam­bria brought a sign that read “Do the math: Rule of law - 45 = democ­racy.”

“Aside from vot­ing, it’s about all we can do,” she said, when asked why it’s im­por­tant to protest. “It makes us feel less help­less.”

Lind­sey Holden: 805-781-7939, @lind­seymholden

JOE JOHN­STON jjohn­ston@thetri­bune­news.com

Pro­test­ers carry signs Thurs­day dur­ing a rapid re­sponse protest in San Luis Obispo, the day af­ter Pres­i­dent Trump forced At­tor­ney Gen­eral Jeff Ses­sions to re­sign, a move seen by many as an ac­tion to im­pede the Rus­sia in­ves­ti­ga­tion over­seen by Spe­cial Coun­sel Robert Mueller.

JOE JOHN­STON jjohn­ston@thetri­bune­news.com

A pro­tester car­ries a sign Thurs­day dur­ing a rapid re­sponse protest in San Luis Obispo.

JOE JOHN­STON jjohn­ston@thetri­bune­news.com

A pro­tester car­ries a sign Thurs­day dur­ing a rapid re­sponse protest in San Luis Obispo, the day af­ter Pres­i­dent Trump forced At­tor­ney Gen­eral Jeff Ses­sions to re­sign, a move seen by many as an ac­tion to im­pede the Rus­sia in­ves­ti­ga­tion.